Pau: BMW Motorsport race one, two notes

BMW celebrates one-two win in Pau - Farfus takes second victory in 2007.
Pau (France), 03rd June 2007. Augusto Farfus (BRA) of BMW Team Germany is the
winner of the eighth round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. At the
"Circuit de Pau",...

Pau (France), 03rd June 2007. Augusto Farfus (BRA) of BMW Team Germany is the
winner of the eighth round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. At the
"Circuit de Pau", the 23-year-old claimed his second win of the season ahead of
BMW Team UK's Andy Priaulx (GBR) and Tiago Monteiro (POR/SEAT). In Sunday's
morning race, Farfus had taken the chequered flag in seventh. Porteiro was the best-
placed BMW national team driver, crossing the line in fifth place, directly followed by
Priaulx.

The race win marked the crowning finale of an eventful weekend for Farfus. His
spectacular qualifying accident had forced the Schnitzer crew to perform a nightshift.
The heavily damaged BMW 320si WTCC was ready to race just in time for warm-up
on Sunday morning - and Farfus topped the time sheets. Additionally, the BMW
works driver was relegated from third to 13th on the grid for the first race due to a
penalty after the Valencia weekend. Despite these difficulties Farfus delivered two
flawless races, thus rewarding the team for its exceptional work in Pau.

Farfus's team-mate Jorg Muller (GER), who headed the championship prior to the
races at the 2.760-kilometre track, left Pau empty-handed after finishing 11th and
10th respectively. Therefore, Priaulx is now the leader of the Drivers' Championship.
The 32-year-old is the only WTCC driver who has scored points in each of the eight
rounds held so far. The reigning champion has 42 points under his belt, just two
points ahead of runner-up Farfus. Muller follows in third place, lying 11 points behind
Priaulx. BMW consolidated its lead in the Constructors' Championship. The brand
increased its tally to a total of 106 points.

The crowds in Pau witnessed an almost incident-free first race. Only five drivers were
forced to retire on the twisty street circuit. Unfortunately, Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) of
BMW Team Italy-Spain was one of them. On lap 12, he hit the barriers and had to pit
with a damaged front suspension. At the start, the 40-year-old had gained several
positions. His fellow BMW drivers did just the same. Farfus performed the biggest
leap forward: At the end of lap 1, he was already running in ninth place, putting
SEAT's Jordi Gene (ESP) under pressure. Porteiro also made an excellent "rolling"
start and improved from eighth to sixth. Seventh-placed Priaulx, who got passed by
the Spaniard, remained in Porteiro's rear mirror for the remaining 19 laps. From 16th
grid position, Muller gained two places at the start.

Overtaking manoeuvres remained a rarity in the narrow streets of Pau. However,
Farfus proved that it is possible. His patience paid off on lap 16, when he succeeded
in overtaking Gene. Due to the retirement of Chevrolet's Nicola Larini (ITA) three laps
earlier, the BMW drivers had already gained one place each without a struggle.
Farfus was now running in seventh position, defending it until the end of the race.
Larini's retirement also meant an improvement for Porteiro and Priaulx. Running in
fifth place, Porteiro withstood the pressure of the two-time World Champion, thus
securing his best result of the season. Muller crossed the line 11th. With three cars
within the first two rows, the BMW national teams had made perfect use of the
reversed grid and were in a promising position for race two.

Pole-sitter Farfus and Priaulx laid the foundation for the third BMW one-two of the
year as at the start they both overtook Gene. Until the very end of the race the pairing
remained close to each other. Nevertheless, Priaulx did not get tempted to try a
dangerous overtaking move. At the end of the day, the two BMW drivers crossed the
line with a gap of almost five seconds to Monteiro. Porteiro was also on his way to
secure a place on the podium. At the start, he defended fourth position and even
passed Gene for third place on lap 11. However, just a few corners later, Porteiro's
race ended abruptly, when his left front-wheel damper broke after going over a high
curb.

Zanardi made a remarkable start from the back of the field and was already running in
13th place when the safety car came out on lap 3. A total of four cars crashed out of
the race in this massive incident at the end of the start-finish straight. When the
green flags were waved again on lap seven, Zanardi continued his catch up. After
Muller had a brief off-track moment when launching an attack against Tom Coronel
(NLD/SEAT), the Italian seized the opportunity and overtook the BMW Team
Germany driver. In the end both narrowly missed out on a points' finish. Zanardi
finished ninth, and Muller crossed the line in tenth place.

Reactions:

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany):
"It's not possible for me to understand completely what happened this weekend.
Until Saturday night it was not even sure if I could even start here. But the team did a
fantastic job. This win belongs to the Schnitzer guys! In the first race, I worked my
way up to seventh place. The start for race two worked perfectly well, and I was able
to find my rhythm in the lead. Andy put me under pressure, but in the end it's
extremely difficult to overtake here. This has been an incredible weekend for me."

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
"With 55 kilograms of handicap weight, it was far from easy on this track. Therefore,
I'm ecstatic about my 11 championship points. In the first race, I had no chance to
attack Felix due to the weight difference. So I focussed not to make any mistake. I
was in the same situation in race two, this time with Augusto. It's true, I haven't won a
race so far this year. But the championship is far more important. The first win will
come."

Charly Lamm (Team Manager, BMW Team Germany):
"It looks as if we were providing most of the headlines this weekend. Following
Augusto's accident the team members gave their all to fix the car and give him the
chance to start. Therefore, this is a truly special win for us. The driver and the
mechanics proved their moral. I'm really proud of the team. I'm sure that Jorg will be
battling out again at the front of the grid in Brno. He has always scored good results
there."